Any alternatives out there for "trigger fingers" besides having the offending digit injected?
Long story shortened: Hx of trigger finger on two seperate occassions. Resoved with cortisone inj. Now I have another which I have to manually "unlock" several times throughout the day and for some reason this gives me the heebee geebees. I'm scheduled to have in injected but if there is an alternative I would be happy to hear about it. Hate to see MD for what I consider a minor (yet annoying) issue.
I wish you luck. Massage and warmth might be helpful as well. You know, you may want to get a prescription for OT, a hand therapist. They should be able to help you out with ultrasound, massage, etc. You might be able to get a prescription that you can pick up.
I've had a few fingers trigger. I don't have a good (or any) response to cortisone injections for this type of thing, so I wound up having the trigger thumb surgically fixed. The good news is that it was a quick and simple procedure, but I certainly would not rush into this type of thing. I did have the hand therapist work on my thumb as well, and we splinted for a stretch of time. Mine continued to be too much of an issue.
I wish you luck. Massage and warmth might be helpful as well. You know, you may want to get a prescription for OT, a hand therapist. They should be able to help you out with ultrasound, massage, etc. You might be able to get a prescription that you can pick up.
I've had a few fingers trigger. I don't have a good (or any) response to cortisone injections for this type of thing, so I wound up having the trigger thumb surgically fixed. The good news is that it was a quick and simple procedure, but I certainly would not rush into this type of thing. I did have the hand therapist work on my thumb as well, and we splinted for a stretch of time. Mine continued to be too much of an issue.
Stoney, were the splints very helpful? I sleep with my fingers clenched tight and I don't think this is helping the situation. Maybe splints at night would. I'm afraid to loose ROM by splinting but doing it at nite might be an option as well as OT. I had all 3 fingers on both hands lock up around the holidays,one by one they resolved except for this last stubborn one.
Your right about surgery, the absolutely last and final resort!
My son was born with trigger finger, but we didn't know it until he started crawling. We taped the joint for 12 weeks and gave him anti inflammatories daily. The only time we took the tape off was to bathe. His finger is fine now, no relapses. His pedi was amazed and has used the same process for other trigger finger children. Good luck!
You can certainly try splinting at night to begin with. There are trigger finger splints, but sometimes splinting the finger straight can keep it from locking. Again, I would encourage you to work with an OT on this.
cayuse said:
Stoney, were the splints very helpful? I sleep with my fingers clenched tight and I don't think this is helping the situation. Maybe splints at night would. I'm afraid to loose ROM by splinting but doing it at nite might be an option as well as OT. I had all 3 fingers on both hands lock up around the holidays,one by one they resolved except for this last stubborn one.
Your right about surgery, the absolutely last and final resort!
Thanks Stoney, I will ask about OT when I see the MD. If i could just get used to the "snap, crackle and pop" of it I would just leave the thing alone! :)
Amielyn, glad your son is ok! How did you get him to leave the finger alone when it was taped? Poor little guy!